Why did Boeing bring the case?

The case relates to a major order for Bombardier from the US airline Delta for 75 C-Series aircraft.

Image copyrightPACEMAKER

Image caption
Unions argued a tariff would threaten sales and UK jobs would be hit

Boeing complained to the US Commerce Department that they had been sold at “absurdly low prices” in violation of trade law and this was made possible by unfair subsidies to Bombardier from the British and Canadian governments.

Bombardier has received £135m in UK aid, almost all of it a loan towards a new C-Series wing factory in Belfast which opened in 2013. About 50 companies in the UK supply Bombardier with parts for the C-Series.

Image copyrightGetty/AFP

Image caption
The case relates to a major order for Bombardier from the US airline Delta for 75 C-Series aircraft.

How did Bombardier and the UK react?

The UK government sided with Bombardier.

The company employs about 4,000 people in Northern Ireland. Its main factories are in constituencies held by the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP), who have a confidence-and-supply deal keeping Theresa May in power.

The prime minister lobbied President Donald Trump on Bombardier’s behalf, but the government resisted trade union calls to cancel defence contracts with Boeing.

Bombardier said Boeing never lost out in the Delta order as it does not make the small size of plane requested. Some analysts wondered if Boeing was simply out to damage a competitor.

Image copyrightPacemaker

Image caption
The Canadian aerospace firm is Northern Ireland’s largest manufacturing employer